WALTER WILLIAMS
A selection of publications by Walter Williams are listed below.
Click here for more on Walter Williams.
Who May Harm Whom? [April, 2000]
Smoking has been one of the hot controversies of our time. Many people find tobacco smoke annoying, smelly, and just plain dirty and unpleasant. Some smokers themselves agree. But today's smoking restrictions, not to mention the attack on smokers and extortion of tobacco companies, could not have been engineered simply on the grounds that tobacco smoke is unpleasant. We needed another reason. So the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), using bogus science, literally manufactured the finding that secondhand smoke is a class A carcinogen causing death and illness for tens of thousands of nonsmokers. ... [
Greed Versus Compassion by Walter E. Williams [October, 2000]
What's the noblest of human motivations? Some might be tempted to answer: charity, love of one's neighbor, or, in modern, politically correct language, giving something back or feeling another's pain. In my book, these are indeed noble motivations, but they pale in comparison to a much more potent motivation for human action. For me the noblest of human motivations is greed. I don't mean theft, fraud, tricks, or misrepresentation. By greed I mean being only or mostly concerned with getting the most one can for oneself and not necessarily concerned about the welfare of others. Social consternation might cause one to cringe at the suggestion that greed might possibly be seen as a noble motivation. "Enlightened self-interest" might be a preferable term. I prefer greed since it is far more descriptive and less likely to be confused with other human motives.
Silly Talking by Walter E. Williams [July, 2000]
Let's talk about absolutely ridiculous pronouncements people make that either ignore simple fact or border on insanity. How about this one: Violence is no way to settle anything! Evidence suggests that violence is a very effective way of settling things. Let's look at a few examples. In 1776, violence settled whether the 13 colonies would be independent or remain under King George's thumb. In 1865, violence settled whether there'd be a Confederacy and a Union or just a Union. Between 1941 and 1945, violence settled whether Japan would control the Far East and whether Germany would control Europe. Violence settled whether American Indians owned and controlled the land now called United States or whether it would be European settlers and their progeny. In fact, violence has settled the question of land use-rights virtually everywhere.
Social Justice by Walter Williams [July, 1998]
The pursuit of social justice probably accounts for most human misery. What's more, throughout history, one form of injustice has usually been replaced by another that is far worse. Russia's 1917 revolution expelling the Czars and their injustices ushered in Lenin, Stalin, and a succession of brutal dictators who murdered tens of millions in the name of the proletarian revolution. The injustices of Chiang Kai-shek were replaced with those of Mao Zedong; Castro's ousting of Batista and Ayatollah Khomeini's toppling of the Shah of Iran produced regimes far more brutal. After Africa became independent the injustices of colonial powers were replaced with those of brutal dictators.
Civil War's Tragic Legacy by Walter Williams [January, 1999]
The Civil War produced at least two important outcomes. First, although it was not President Lincoln's intent, it freed slaves in the Confederate States. Second, it settled the question of whether states could secede from the Union. The causes of and the issues surrounding America's most costly war in terms of battlefield casualties are still controversial. Even its name--the Civil War--is in dispute, and plausibly so.
Capitalism and the Common Man by Walter E. Williams [January, 2000]
There are some arguments, having a faint measure of plausibility, that have served politicians, charlatans, and assorted do-gooders for well over a century in their quest for control. One of those arguments is: capitalism primarily benefits the rich and not the common man. That vision prompts declarations such as Representative Richard Gephardt's assertion that high-income earners are "winners" in "the lottery of life." Then there's Robert Reich, former secretary of labor, who calls high- income earners the "fortunate fifth." This nonsensical vision leads to calls for those who've been "blessed" to "give back" either voluntarily or coercively through the tax code.
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Liberty Means Less Government,
a book by Walter E. Williams
Hoover Press · 1999 ·
Reviewed by William H. Peterson
[...]Walter Williams notes that what Congress may do is bounded by the Constitution, in particular by Article I, Section 8, which details the purposes for which Congress is permitted to tax and spend money. Yet despite the fact that the oath of office taken by each member of Congress specifies upholding that Constitution, some two-thirds of the budget is expended on education, housing, farm and corporate subsidies, Social Security, and various other domestic and foreign welfare programs that lack constitutional sanction. [Link to full book review.]
Links Walter Williams articles and book on Cato Institute web sites:
-- Social Security Falsehoods, June 3, 2000
-- Social Security Spooks, August 13, 1999
More online Walter Williams articles, click:
Walter Williams is a columnist for Ideas on Liberty and the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
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